The Day the Magic Died
by therewassnow11
Summary: It was the sixth anniversary of that day. Suddenly there was a crash, louder than the thunder outside as Fairy Tail's front door burst open and two children staggered through it. "P-please help us" One whispered, before the pair of them collapsed. But not before a certain scarlet haired mage had caught sight of the ring of celestial keys clasped in the child's hand.
1. Chapter 1

**SO GANG (well hopefully more than one person will read this fanfiction) this is my first ever story. Reading and now writing fanfiction marks for me how totally obsessed I am with fairy Tail and manga, if you're FT obsessed you'll know the symptoms: shouting AYE SIR at your friends, pretending you're summoning a celestial spirit when unlocking the door etc.**

**SO anyway this fanfiction is dedicated to my dear imouto-chan, who shares my obsession of FT and manga.**

**The Day the Magic Died**

_It was the sixth anniversary of that day. Everyone was feeling it, even the weather outside seemed to reflect the misery; with a thundering storm and pouring rain. Suddenly there was a crash, louder than the thunder outside as Fairy Tail's front door burst open and two children staggered through it._

"_P-please help us" One whispered, before the pair of them collapsed. But not before a certain scarlet haired mage had caught sight of the ring of celestial keys clasped in the child's hand._

Erza was first to react. She leapt up and sprinted to the children's aid, surreptitiously removing the keys from the little girl's grasp and stowing them in her pocket as she did so. She didn't know what to think, but she did know that if anyone saw Lucy's keys then there would be trouble. She didn't know who these children were and there was no need to get everyone's hopes up, thinking that they might know something about Lucy.

Everyone crowded round as Erza inspected the kids. They looked like they had been through a lot. Their dirty brown hair was matted and tangled, their clothes torn, they were soaked to the skin but their clothes had several dark patches on them that looked suspiciously like blood.

"We'll take them to the infirmary" Mira whispered

Erza nodded, "does anyone know when Wendy is due back from her mission?" she murmured back, the tense situation seemed to have impressed on everyone the need to be quiet, no-one else in the guild was making a sound.

Mira shook her head "we'll just have to see what we can do for them"

And with that she and Erza carried the children into the infirmary, where they did what they could for the children's injuries and then sat watching over them till daybreak.

Downstairs there was an unusual amount of noise, for this day of the year anyway. Everyone was muttering about the kids, making guesses and assumptions. The master stood surveying the scene in front of him, he felt even more depressed than he usually did on that day. More injured children, it made him feel sick. Well Fairy Tail would take them in and look after them, because that was the sort of guild it was. Yes the children would become Nakama and be protected. _Protect your Nakama. _The words seem to drive into him like a spear. No, not again. He would not fail his children again; he would protect them at all costs.

The echo of that dreadful day had scarred him, as the master of Fairy Tail it had been _his _job to protect his children. But he had failed.

Six years ago to this exact day a battle to rival all battles had taken place at Fairy Tail. An alliance of dark guilds had struck simultaneously against them in attempt to steal some of the magical abilities Fairy Tail possessed and because of some unknown grudge. The battle had been bloody and ruthless. Fairy Tail would have dealt with them reasonably well if it had not been for the blackout half way through the fight. The guild possessed a mage with the terrifying ability to nullify magic and the second he stepped onto the battle field everyone's magic had vanished.

But Fairy Tail had kept fighting as always. Reduced to non-magical fighting, those who could wield weapons such as Erza and were good at hand-to-hand combat such as Natsu became the forefighters of the guild. It was then shockingly that Lucy Heartfilia, who no-one had really considered that strong, became a key soldier in the battle. Her talent with a whip knocked countless enemies aside until someone decided that she had to be stopped.

It was then that the master shook himself, it would not do to remember the worst consequence of that day. No, he saw daily the aftershocks. He saw it in Levy's missing arm, in Evergreen's scarred face, in the chunk missing from Gajeel's chest. But most of all in the sorrow of Fairy Tail's strongest team and the six year absence of Natsu's smile.

**Please R&R, I would really appreciate it! :)**

**Woah so that was heavy, the next chapter should be a bit lighter as the kids will wake up. Hopefully there will also be some humour and pairing references. Oh and more explanations of the battle as other people flashback. This chapter was supposed to leave you with lots of questions, did it?**

**Mah and the title of this story is a reference to the song 'American Pie' by Don McLean, every chapter will be named after a song as I like to write with a muse.**


	2. Chapter 2: Fix You

**So here's chapter two. Much love to everyone who reviewed/favourite/alerted my story. That's you guys: ****xIce Birdx, AmaixRodo96, Lioness Of the fire, Flameflinger Girl, GoldenRoseLuceTanya, Queen of Narnia49, thesecretkeeper11, R3iga1004, Kagome Juh (cheers, you're my first reviewer ever!), petpermint, Fan25, Wasabi-kun, Miabia100, JennyPoohMemories, .9256, LuckyLifeSmile, Ultimate Ging, Oshirajinda, ft-addict16 and imouto-chan of course :)**

**Chapter two: Fix You**

A lone member of Fairy Tail was trudging back towards the guild. His mission had been unsatisfactory as always. He felt fed up and depressed, but at least he had missed the anniversary. He ran a hand through his raven hair and then rubbed his bare chest absently. Maybe team Natsu's mission was futile after all, like the others at the guild kept saying. Shaking off the thought he continued walking. He was about two miles away from home when he got the feeling he was being followed. He ignored it. He was always being stalked; Juvia had followed him at a distance through his last three missions alone. As a result he did not anticipate the attack before it was too late.

Meanwhile back at the guild. Erza and Mirajane were watching the two children while they slept. Their injuries had not been serious and the two guessed that it was more fatigue than anything else that had caused their collapse.

"They're so cute," whispered Mira, looking at Erza standing behind her.

"Cute?" came a loud and disgruntled voice, "I am _not_ cute."

The two mages jumped, not noticing that the children had woken.

"Scar, don't be rude. These people helped us," said the other child, in a somewhat quieter voice.

"I thought I told you told you to call me oneechan," the girl said, ignoring her brother's reproof.

"But we're twins," the boy whispered back.

"But _I_ was born first," she said.

And the pair dissolved into bickering until a loud voice boomed "NO FIGHTING" and the pair looked up to see Erza looming over them.

"NO mam," they chorused, seeming to shrink into the bed clothes.

"That's alright then, so what are your names?" she said smiling.

The children sweatdropped at this sudden switch.

"God, bipolar much," came a voice from the door. Everyone looked over to see who had entered. It was Gajeel and Levy.

"We came to see how the kids were," said Levy. She had a sort of rueful smile on her face knowing that Gajeel would pay dearly for his little comment later.

"Well come on in," said Mira cheerily, "we were just about to find out their names."

Levy tried to pull Gajeel forwards but under the look Erza was giving him he seemed disinclined to move away from the only exit. She sighed and walked over to the bed by herself. The two children were sitting side by side, staring up at her. She smiled; it was nice to have people looking up at her for a change. The children seemed to relax under her smile.

The little girl pointed to herself. "My name is Scarlett," she said proudly, "and this is my brother."

The other boy looked shy and nervous and mumbled his name so quietly the others could barely hear it.

"So Scarlett and Neil I think it was," said Levy kindly.

The boy nodded and the girl grinned unabashedly.

"Do you have food?" she asked, looking at Erza seeming to decide (correctly) that she was the one in charge around here.

"That is, if you have any to spare of course," added the boy quietly, attempting to be polite in the place of his sister. She noticed and snorted.

"Of course dears," said Mira, "I'll go whip something up," and she left. Gajeel took the opportunity to sidle out after her.

Erza looked down; now that there were less people in the room she was going to take the opportunity to ask the kids about the keys. _Lucy's keys_. She knew they were Lucy's keys because attached to the ring there was also a star shaped lucky charm. The one she had bought Lucy for her last birthday before it happened. Not that it had been lucky at all though, she thought bitterly.

Meanwhile downstairs, the guild was getting into its normal routine. After the anniversary, the mood always picked up and the guild acted more like its old self, albeit with fewer fights. Well that was the result of two of the main culprits being absent for extended periods of time. Speaking of which, one of the said culprits had just entered the guild. He only nodded at those who acknowledged him and took a seat at an empty table, looking like misery personified.

"I really wish I could see Natsu-kun smile again," whispered Romeo sadly.

"It's no use lad, he hasn't smiled once since that day," said Macao, laying a hand on his son's shoulder.

"Still it's about time he moved on," muttered Wakaba, "I mean it's been six years since Lucy di-"

Macao quickly slammed a hand over Wakaba's mouth "shut up," he whispered franticly, "If Natsu hears you saying that...you know he still maintains that she isn't."

"Then he's lying to himself," hissed another voice; Cana. "We all saw the-the….and the cards I searched for her presence and her future is b-blank." Cana still got choked up when talking about Lucy.

An arm appeared around Cana's shoulders, and she looked up to see her father. He like most of the other guild members had made an effort to be at the guild for the anniversary the previous day.

"I know, I know. But that boy is stubborn, he'll never give up, he'll never stop looking for her," said Gildarts. Cana sniffed and said no more.

But Romeo muttered something about adults always butting into other peoples conversations and turned back to staring at the forlorn figure of Natsu.

"Speaking of missing people" said Macao, wasn't Gray due back from his mission like last night, where the hell is he?"

Just at that moment the door to the infirmary opened and two children rushed down the stairs. They were followed closely by Erza and Levy, both of whom had the queerest expressions on their faces. Erza pretended that everything was normal and followed the kids across the room. But Levy walked over to a corner of the guild (which had been named the Levy corner in tribute to the amount of times Levy sat there reading) for the first time in a long time. She sat down, acquired a book seemingly out of nowhere and started reading determinedly. Gajeel watched his girlfriend's behaviour with great curiosity. Now he didn't know what, but he was sure that something had gone down in that infirmary between those children, Erza and Levy. And he was determined to find out what.

Erza's presence got Natsu's attention.

"Erza," he said in surprise.

"I got back from my mission early," she said by way of an explanation.

"And?" said Natsu.

"Nothing," she murmured sadly.

Natsu nodded dully, "me neither."

Erza gripped his shoulder comfortingly as she walked past and Natsu slumped back down into his seat.

At that moment Mirajane placed two steaming dishes of food on the counter. Scarlett didn't know what it was but it smelled amazing. She ran across the room, in her haste to get to the food she sent chairs and tables flying. While her brother ran around in her wake, trying desperately to clear up her mess, apologising profusely all the while. The other guild members watched this spectacle with great amusement.

When Scarlett finally reached the counter, she jumped up and down, unable to climb up the high bar chairs.

"Here," said Lisanna laughing, "let me help you."

But the little girl folded her arms stubbornly across her chest, "I can get up by myself thank you."

"Scarlett," said Erza, "letting your friends help you is not a weakness."

Scarlett looked at Erza and nodded, allowing Lisanna to lift her into the chair.

"Thank you," she murmured. Erza looked on approvingly.

"Erza," she murmured, sounding nervous for the first time. "Will you sit with me?"

Erza smiled affectionately at her and complied. Mirajane was surprised that Erza had such influence over the child and began to have the suspicion that something significant had happened after she and Gajeel had left the infirmary.

Her train of thought was interrupted by Elfman, who chose that moment to walk over to the little group and yell "Friends sitting together is MANLY."

Lisanna rolled her eyes, but smiled at her brother. Scarlett just stared at him along with Neil who by now had caught up with his sister and been lifted into a chair likewise.

"That's a really big scar you've got there Mr," whispered Scarlett, looking at the scar that ran diagonally across Elman's face, disfiguring it.

A hush swept over the guild, Elfman was very sensitive about his Scar.

"But I think that scars are very manly," she added.

This promptly caused Elfman to burst into tears and to jog around the guild yelling happily that he was proud to be a man.

"As long as he doesn't try and give himself anymore manly injuries," muttered Lisanna anxiously, looking at her sister. But Mirajane just smiled at the child who had helped her brother with his insecurities.

Elfman's jog was similar to Scarlett's run to the food, the only difference being that since he was about ten times bigger the damage was about ten times as serious. His rampage prompted the first guild brawl in a long time. Not even Erza tried to stop it, not wanting to put an end to the glimpse of the old rowdy Fairy Tail.

Suddenly Elfman cried "EVERYBODY STOP" and everyone did, totally shocked by his outburst.

His galloped over to a certain Raijinshū member, who's scarred face gazed at him incredulously. He got down on one knee. Mira spat out her mouthful of orange juice.

"Ever," he said. "I was afraid to ask you this before, I was afraid of lots of things after the battle. I had forgotten that I am A MAN. But now I am not afraid anymore and I want to ask-to ask you if you'll marry me?"

Mirajane squealed loudly, Gajeel dropped the guild member he was holding aloft on his head, Reedus snapped the paintbrush he was holding and absolutely everyone stared. Evergreen herself sniffed. Before the battle she had fancied herself queen of the fairies, but after it she could barely look at her own face in the mirror; it was so scarred. Because of her now hideous (her words) face and her ability to change people into stone, people outside the guild had started calling her Medusa. Children ran from her. She had thought that no-one would want to be with her. But for some reason Elfman did...before the S-class exam she would have never gone for a brute like Elfman but after that she had…. although she had always denied it, even to herself….loved him.

"Yes," she said.

"What?" said Elfman looking totally stunned.

"Yeah, 'WHAT'?" repeated the guild.

"YES," shouted Evergreen, "I accept, I love him too."

Elfman roared with delight and pulled Evergreen into a bone-crushing embrace.

"Now we can both be MEN together," he yelled.

"Shut up," she yelled back, "I am NOT a man."

Everyone in the guild was laughing. The other members of the Raijinshū and Lisanna were in tears. Mira was torn between delight and horror at the thought of the children they would have. The master shook his head, his brats really were ridiculous sometimes, but you had to love them.

Neil gaped at the scene before him, "did he just propose in the middle of a bar brawl?"

"That's Fairy Tail for you," said a blue cat hovering above the counter, who the children had not noticed before.

Next to it, stood a pink haired man.

"Looks like you two created quite a stir; it looks like you'll fit right in at Fairy Tail."

The children looked up at the man in wonder and something happened that had not happened for six long years; Natsu Dragneel smiled.

**Please, please review. You don't know how much I appreciate it, even if it's only to criticise! :)**

**So erm guess I lied about the whole flashback to the battle thing, Levy was supposed to have one but I thought the chapter was getting too long so that will be in the next one. **

**So the big questions: what happened to Gray? What happened between the kids, Erza and Levy? Find out in the next chapters!**

**Oh and I hope you didn't find the whole proposal shenanigan too weird, but I REALLY love that couple.**

**Oh and the muse for this chapter was 'Fix you' by Coldplay.**


	3. Chapter 3: Worried about Gray

**Thanks to all the new people who reviewed/alerted/favourited my story: ShadowClaw811, xXLovelyAnimeLoverXx, one piece girl 99999, Future Shining Star, Okami-G, aprildragonfire16, Melissabear, WinterValley, Tkrieg, Orara-chan, Sanit09, whynotwhynot, deaththecripple, Rose Fang. **

**Even more love to you guys who reviewed: imouto-chan!, oshirajinda (thankyouu and you'll have to wait and see!), final-zangetsu (thanks and you'll get bits of it, as people flashback), Kagome Juh (narw, cheers and you'll have to wait and see as well, and don't be modest your English is practically perfect as far as I can see!), Miabia100 (thankyou), GoldenRoseLuceTanya (cheers and you also will have to wait and see!), Al (thankyou and I'll write whenever I can), R3iga1004 (I'm glad it had this effect on you!) Twistedkorn (thankyouu ), Flameflinger girl (cheers and yes you will ), Wasabi-kun (your review made me laugh!).**

Chapter 3: Worried about Gray

It wasn't his old smile; the grin that stretched from ear to ear. But it was a start nonetheless. Levy looked over the top of her book from Natsu to Elfman. She had never seen him look happier. Levy smiled to herself, she was very glad that that Elfman had gotten over his insecurities about his battle scars. Almost the entire guild had been marked in some way, but Elfman was one of the people who let it get to them the most. She looked down at the empty left sleeve of her jumper; at the place where her arm should have been. She herself had never been ashamed or embarrassed by her battle injury because she had received it protecting someone she loved…

_Levy's Flashback:_

_In the middle of writing 'cage' in solid script, she felt a painful draining sensation and the halfway completed word vanished. Suddenly Levy heard screams, echoing all around her. What was happening? The man she had been fighting leered at her and lifted his axe above his head to strike. She desperately tried to use solid script again, but nothing happened. 'My magic,' thought Levy in terror, 'it's gone!' She flung herself sideways to avoid the attack. Luckily for her, the man's axe got stuck in what looked like the ruins of the bar counter. Levy took her chance and fled. She didn't kid herself; there was no way that someone her size could win against a man like that without magic. Even if she'd had a weapon, the man's superior strength and experience would surely have trumped her. She didn't know what to do. All around her people were fighting; she ducked and wove through the crowd, maybe if she could find-_

"_THIS IS IT FAIRY TAIL!" shouted a voice, louder than all the battles raging around her._

_She froze, as did all the fights._

"_My magic can nullify yours, none of you can use magic and you are outnumbered. Now, SURRENDER!" he ordered._

"_NEVER!" came the reply._

"_We'll still defeat you!" a Fairy Tail member shouted._

"_You'll never beat Fairy Tail!" several voices yelled and all the battles resumed._

_The man looked mildly annoyed, "fools, dig your own grave if you wish."_

_He opened his palm then and a huge black ball of god-knows-what sprung to life in his hands and started to swell. Obviously he as the caster could still use magic. Fairy Tail members were eyeing the ball warily, but could do nothing as they were either already involved in fights or too far away to stop him. The man threw the ball of magic and it imploded in mid-air. The explosion sent Levy and countless others flying in all directions. Members of the dark guild alliance too, the man with the nullifying magic seemed not to care who he hurt. Levy crashed into a pile of rubble. She felt her head and back connect with sharp metal. She lay where she had been thrown, dazed and felt warm liquid running down the back of her neck and back. She coughed and spat out a mouthful of blood. The world was spinning hectically around her._

"_Levy?" a voice called, "are you alright?" She could just about make out a blurry figure leaning over her._

_She nodded and then groaned as the action made her head spin even faster. "Laki?" she whispered, "Is that you, what happened, where did that man come from? I didn't see." She thought she saw Laki shake her head and wondered dully why Laki had decided to dye part of her hair red._

"_We don't know. He just appeared all of a sudden. We think it was because… well… we were winning. Even though there are so many of them, we have stronger wizards…so we were beating them… then that man just appeared out of nowhere and the second he did, all the magic vanished. The good thing is the people from the dark alliance are affected too. But the bad thing is now their numbers really will be a problem… and they all have weapons!" said Laki_

_Suddenly the earth seemed to rumble beneath them._

"_Levy!" Laki cried, "we've got to move!"_

_The rest of the Fairy Tail guild; the parts that were still standing were shaking violently. The man's attacked seemed to have pushed the building over the limits of its structural endurance! Huge chunks of concrete rained down on the battle now. Laki seized Levy and dragged her to her feet. Levy clung to her and the pair of them stumbled away from the falling building._

"_Laki, Levy, HELP!" cried a voice. It was Romeo trapped under the body of some fallen enemy._

_Laki looked at Levy. "Help him," Levy whispered, "I'm fine, I can walk, I'll go see if anyone else is trapped" and with that she set off, staggering through the ruins of Fairy Tail._

_Laki looked after her anxiously but rushed to help Romeo, picking up a metal pole and felling two dark guild members on her way. Meanwhile Levy was trying desperately to see well, anything. The building collapse had caused a severe dust cloud to form, making it difficult to see and rendering the situation even more perilous. Through sheer luck did the falling rocks miss the partially blind and barely standing solid script mage. She wanted to collapse, her body was shaking and it was through will-power alone that she remained erect. She wouldn't give up until she had found who she was looking for. Those four people who meant more to her than anyone: Jet, Droy, Lucy and…. Gajeel. Until she knew they were safe, she could not, would not rest. Just ahead of her a little patch of the dust was clearing. She rushed into it and saw Gajeel fighting three enemy soldiers at once. He knocked two back, but then the ground shook again and Gajeel fell, his leg twisted up in pipes and wires. Levy looked up and saw to her horror that there was a huge chunk of guild wall, wobbling, about to fall and crush him! Levy reacted instinctively. Knowing that a push from her wouldn't be enough to free him from the wires, she instead flung her whole body at him. This knocked him free of the rubble and clear of the incoming concrete. But placed Levy in its path instead. The boulder crashed to the ground. For a couple of seconds Levy was aware of the most excruciating agony, before her world went black._

_She woke up, she didn't know how much later, feeling strangely lopsided. She looked down at her left side to see not an arm, but bed clothes stained scarlet with blood and the stump of her shoulder bandaged. Her stomach turned and she threw up a mixture of sick and blood onto the floor. She gagged and would have started to hyperventilate if it had not been from the arm which gripped her shoulder firmly and pushed her back onto the pillows. Gajeel. He explained that her arm had been crushed by the boulder and that they had to remove it. Under his presence she began to calm. He looked awful but he was alive. Because of that one merciful fact she didn't notice that her bed consisted of two pillows and a sheet on the floor, she didn't notice that they were still in the ruins of their guild hall, she didn't comprehend that the battle was over; the enemy gone and she didn't see her fellow guild members, lying severely wounded around her on similar makeshift beds. No, the only thing she saw was Gajeel and the intense look he was giving her._

"_That was one hell of a thing to do for someone shrimp," he muttered hoarsely, "even if they are your Nakama."_

_Levy smiled and a kind of strangled chuckle made its way up her throat, "I didn't risk my life for you because we're Nakama, Gajeel."_

_His eyes widened and understanding seemed to crash upon him, he looked down solemnly. "I love you too, Levy."_

_She chuckled again, "stupid Gajeel," she whispered, before once again blacking out._

Levy seemed to leap back to the present. That day had come be known as 'The Day the Magic Died', the day Fairy Tail guild had defeated the dark alliance _without magic. _After that, the guild had become even more legendary. But the 'defeat' as it was called, hadn't really happened like that at all. They were all lucky to be alive. Levy had not been conscious when the dark alliance suddenly withdrew. Not even Fairy Tail knew why they did, but they did know that if the dark alliance hadn't left when they did, then they, Fairy Tail, would all be dead right now. The battle had had some good effects though, mused Levy. Almost dying had certainly pushed some people together, like her and Gajeel. It had strengthened bonds, making friends, siblings, everyone, closer. But then again, it had torn some people apart. Levy winced thinking of her dear Lu-chan, then roused herself. Focusing on bad things only made you miserable, she and the other guild members had learned this from experience.

While Levy was lost in thought, a new face had approached Neil and Scarlett. She must have been about twelve, had black hair in a long plat down her back, violet eyes and wore tasselled brown shorts, a plain white t-shirt and a huge grin. She dragged with her two children that looked about five and two. They had violet eyes likewise and green hair.

"Hi, I'm Connell Asuka," she said cheerily, "and these are my brother and sister." She pointed at the five year old, "This is Hana," she said, "and Isamu." indicating the two year old boy.

"Nice to meet you," said Scarlett grinning. Her and her brother jumped down from their chairs and Scarlett introduced them. Neil just stood quietly. The guild was so full, he had never been near so many people before and it unnerved him.

"Hey you sure are shy aren't you?" said Asuka, prodding Neil painfully in the ribs. "You would go great with my sister Hana," and she shoved the pair of them together so that they bumped heads. She clasped her hands, looking dreamily into the distance. "Maybe one day you'll get married."

Neither of the promised couple looked delighted at this, on the contrary they took one look at each other and went "err gross."

"Who wants to get married anyway, grown-ups are disgusting," Neil said, looking at Elfman and Evergreen who were kissing in the middle of the room.

"I know," said Scarlett fervently, pretending to throw up at the sight.

"One day you'll be like that too," said Asuka, "and then everyone will get married!"

"I think she's been spending too much time with Mira," said Bisca, looking from her daughter to Mirajane, whose expression was just a little too innocent.

"She's my little protégé!" Mira squealed, cracking under Bisca's gaze and highfiving little Asuka. "Together we will make everyone in the world a couple!" she cheered, highfiving Asuka again, much to the exasperation of the cowgirl's mother.

"You know Mira, we'll have to find you someone too," said Asuka thoughtfully, "your younger brother is going to be married before you."

Suddenly Mira was sitting in a corner of the guild, a depressed aura surrounding her, "my younger brother will be married before me." She repeated sadly.

"You know he doesn't have to be," came a voice.

Mira looked up sharply, it was Freed. He reached out to grip her shoulder, but she flinched away from him. He tried to hide how much that hurt him.

"I'm sorry Freed," she whispered, "I can't."

Averting her eyes from his she walked away from him, their little exchange going unnoticed by the guild. Mira was trying very hard to keep her cool. Six years ago, before the battle and unbeknownst to the guild, she and Freed had been dating. Knowing full well that all her matchmaking victims would take every opportunity of revenge through teasing her, Mira had insisted that they keep their relationship a secret. It had all been going so well until _that_ day. Mira cursed the day that had destroyed her life; The Day the Magic Died. Watching Mira's retreating back Freed mentally slapped himself, _why the hell did he say that to her?_ They had broken up six years ago after the battle and she had always avoided him since then. She hadn't given him a reason, just ended it. But even after all this time he hadn't gotten over Mirajane Strauss. He remembered miserably the day of the battle and how it was almost the best day of his life.

_Freed's Flashback:_

_Before the guild had invaded, The Day the Magic Died had been just like any other day at Fairy Tail. But for him it was going to be a very significant day. He and Mira had been dating, albeit secretly, for almost 9 months. It wasn't long but he just knew she was the one. The only person he cared about more than Laxus. He was nervous. Mira wasn't at the guild yet. His heart was racing as he stared fixedly at the entrance to the guild. Typically for him, she came in the back entrance putting him all in a fluster as she just popped up behind him. He went bright crimson in the face and started babbling about front doors and other nonsense. She just laughed charmingly at him. He was going to do it now, before he chickened out._

"_Freed I need to tell you something," she said, completely disarming him. Her face was all flushed and she was fiddling with her skirt nervously._

"_Me too," he said._

_She smiled, "You fir-"_

_CRASH_

_The guild seemed to rumble._

"_What in Mavis' name is that?" someone shouted._

_Suddenly the front of the guild was blown apart and hundreds of men and wizards were charging into their guild, declaring war. Before he knew it everyone was fighting. And he had missed his chance._

He would have tried to ask her again, if she had not ended it the first time they met after the battle. She hadn't given him a reason. He had thought over that day a million times, analysed their conversation a million times. At first he had guessed that the thing she was going to tell him was that she had found someone else. But she hadn't dated anyone in six years he was sure of that. Not that he had been following her or anything. Eventually he gave up on that theory; his new one was that he must have done something very wrong. It was the only thing that would explain her behaviour, why she always flinched away from him like she was repulsed by his touch. He longed to know the truth, but more than anything he longed for her to be his once more.

During this time, Scarlett had wandered over to the mission board away from Asuka and the others. Her attention span rarely lasted longer than 30 seconds and she certainly wasn't interested in conversations about love or any other disgusting things like that. So she went to explore, dragging her nervous brother with her. She stared at the all the requests. She looked at Nab, who was as always hovering by it, never to actually choose a request. Not that Scarlett knew this of course.

"Mister, how do you know what mission to take?" she asked, tugging on his elbow.

"Oh I wouldn't be asking him," said Wakaba sauntering over, "here kids; I'll lay it out nice and simple for you. You pick the one which is written best. You see a job request should be like a mini skirt, long enough to cover everything but short enough to keep it interesting-"

"I hope you're not putting indecent ideas into these children's heads Wakaba," said Erza, casually unsheathing a sword.

"N-no, of course not, I-I," he trailed off under Erza's terrifying glare and ran to hide behind Gildarts.

"Erza," squealed Scarlett happily, she hadn't noticed before that Erza had followed them from the bar.

"Erza, we-" Neil looked at his sister, she nodded at him. He took a deep breath. Deciding out of the blue, that this was as good a moment as any to ask what he and his sister had planned to ask since the moment they set off towards Fairy Tail. "We've been wanting to ask for a little while, if it-if it would be alright if we joined Fairy Tail?"

Everyone in the guild went quiet yet again. The master jumped down from his seat and walked over to where the children and Erza were standing. Neil's question had surprised everyone, but the master most of all. After the battle, Fairy Tail had had no new recruits. Although they were admired and respected, people only had to look and the scarred members of the guild to decide they wanted to join somewhere less impressive and safer. No-one had asked to join in six years, until now.

"Okay but why do you want to join Fairy Tail children?" he asked.

The children looked at each other again, "Because it's the best guild ever!" they yelled smiling.

And no-one could disagree with that.

The mood of the guild brightened even more. Lisanna sprinted off to get the guild stamp and master got all tearful during the stamping (in other word's the official introduction) of Fairy Tail's new recruits. Neil asked for a green stamp and Scarlett a red. But Natsu noticed with a jolt that both the children wanted it on the back of their right hand. The same place that Lucy had hers.

That reminded him. Just where the hell was Gray? If he had found anything, Natsu needed to know as soon as possible.

"Where is Gray?" Natsu demanded loudly, "I thought he was due back yesterday."

"Worried about me?" came a voice from the doorway.

Everyone in the guild turned to look. It was Gray leaning heavily on the side of the door. His clothes were torn and bloody and he looked badly injured.

"You look like shit Gray," said Gajeel.

"Yeah well I was attacked, what your excuse for looking like that Metal-face."

Gajeel hissed but restrained from springing at Gray because of the state he was in. The rest of the guild stared at Gray. Erza walked towards him, she looked anxious and questioning. Gray sighed and hobbled inside the entrance.

"That's right," he said, "I was attacked."

**Please Review gang, reading them really makes my day. (And a TONE of love to you people who have reviewed more than once, you know who you are!)**

**So we still don't really know what happened to Gray, sorry about that. And whats Mira's problem with Freed? Stay tuned to find out.**

**Did anybody like the coverart? Cause it took agesss, drawing IS HARD.**

**This chapter is named after 'Worried about Ray' by the Hoosiers.**


	4. Chapter 4: Walking Disasters

**I'm sorry guys but this chapter will be a bit fillerish, I had to introduce Jellal somewhere because he will be important later on. However next chapter there will be ACTION!**

**Thanks to the new people who alerted/favourited: KaUiA, Gothbear100, StarPurpleandBlue, yaix23, Miyu the Fangirl, inky.13, Urusaii, meli31295, heywhoknewit, xKeepingHappyx, IamKnight, ixburnout.**

**Lots of love to everyone who reviewed: Imouto-chan (I think Australia will have heard your hysterical laughing), Wasabi-kun(hell yeah it was worth it and cheers pal I love you too 3), Oshirajinda (thankyouu but sorry I can't answer plot questions), Kagome Juh (aha good, I'm trying to keep you guessing), Tosho (answer: lots!), GoldenRoseLuceTanya (omg yay or nay?), aprildragonfire16 (thankyou, but once again I can't spill any plot secrets), Guest (you'll have to wait and see, mwahaha), DarkXFeatheredCosmic (thanks and I like to keep people hanging!), MaJorReader619 (all the secrets will be revealed in due time).**

Chapter 4: Walking Disasters

"What, but why? Was it a mugger?" asked Lisanna.

Gray just looked at her, "do you really think a mugger did this?"

Gray explained how someone just attacked him out of the blue with scythes, shouting something about revenge for 'what Gray had done'.

"And what did you do?" asked Erza.

"Nothing! I didn't know what he was saying!" Gray said angrily, he didn't seem in the mood for being asked questions.

Cottoning on, Erza started to chivvy the crowd away and Mira came forwards to help Gray with his injuries. Natsu also moved forwards to ask Gray about his mission, only to receive a disgruntled negative and a dismissal.

Staring at Gray's orange T-shirt (that he was miraculously still wearing) caused Neil to suddenly remember something. He started and grabbed his sister's arm, "Scar, we forgot about Sora! He should have got here by now."

Scarlett clapped her hand to her mouth, "you're right Neel, it doesn't usually take him this long to catch up with us!"

Erza bent down so that she was the same height as the children, "kids, just who is Sora?"

"Our exceed," they said together.

"Okay so how did you lose him?"

"On our way here, he doubled back to check that no-one was following us. He usually does this but he always catches up with us a couple of hours later. He could be in trouble!"

Erza wanted to ask why someone would be following them, but before she could get a word in the kids were off babbling about their exceed again. They started towards the door, declaring that they had to go and find him right now.

"Hold it just one second you two," said Erza, dragging them back by their collars. "You two are not going anywhere until you've had lunch." Although the kids had already eaten today, Erza noticed how thin they looked and was determined to feed them up. "Also you need an escort; you're too young to be running about all over Magnolia alone. So I'll come with you, but lunch first."

The kids grumbled to themselves, but no-one argued with the Titania, so they complied and headed back to the bar counter. Natsu watched the children eating lunch, Erza watching them like a hawk the whole time. She seemed, thought Natsu, like an overprotective mother. Erza also seemed to be in a ridiculously good mood... and Jellal wasn't even due a visit. He and the rest of Crime Sorcière visited about once a month to give Fairy Tail 'updates on dark guilds'; they were extremely cautious since the battle. But his visits always conspicuously coincided with whenever Erza was back from her missions. So Jellal's second object in these visits was missed by nobody. But right now Erza appeared to be even happier than she was whenever Jellal came and this offended Natsu. He knew that the kids had brightened the mood of the guild, he himself felt a bit happier around them and he also had the sense that they were special for some reason. But still, how anyone could be that happy when Lucy was gone was beyond him. Suddenly it all got too much for him and he decided to go home. Gray was acting weird too, and Natsu thought that he would like to be alone for a while. He walked out of the guild shutting the door behind him.

About ten minutes later the children had finished lunch and they and Erza headed out to search for the missing exceed. Magnolia was very busy, there was to be a festival held the next day in a neighbouring town. So many people were flocking through on their way to it. The festival was so popular that most of Magnolia attended, so almost every shop was shut. Erza looked sadly at the closed sign on the front of her favourite cake shop. The kids seemed a little scared by the thronging crowds, but hurried on, retracing the route they had taken to the guild. They looked high and low for the cat, informing Erza that it was reddish ginger in colour. Erza thought they were looking in some odd places: under rubbish bins, in plant pots and even in the water fountain. _Just what sort of strange exceed did these kids have?_ Eventually Scarlett spotted him sleeping on the roof of a little mobile fish stall. Okay perhaps he wasn't so strange after all, thought Erza.

"SORA!" Scarlett yelled, yanking the cat down by its tail. It fell like a stone onto the ground, still not waking up.

"Scar be careful, you'll hurt him," said Neil reproachfully.

"I don't care, he got us all worried and he was just SLEEPING. Damn neko," she said.

"Language!" said Erza sharply, praying that Scarlett hadn't learnt this word in the short time she had spent at the guild. She was too young to be saying things like that.

"Sorry," said Scarlett, "but he makes me so angry sometimes and LOOK he's still not awake."

Neil picked up the cat, he seized a string of herbs from the neighbouring stall and wafted it under the exceed's nose. The cat gave a little sneeze which propelled it out of Neil's arms and into the air, its wings unfurled and it floated gently back down. Its eyes opened slowly.

"Ayeeee, is it time to wake up already?" he yawned.

"Sora, where were you? We were so worried," said Neil anxiously.

"Sorry," the cat yawned again, "must have fallen asleep."

Scarlett growled, "I thought you were going to warn us if there was danger? Where are you priorities?"

"No danger… the people following us…..very stupid…. went the wrong way," the exceed flew out of Neil's arms again only to land on his head and settle down in his hair. "long flight here …. me very tired…think I'll take a nap. Nice to meet you fire woman," he said to Erza, before immediately falling asleep again.

"Long flight," Scarlett scoffed, "he's always this tired, lazy bum."

"'Fire woman'?" came a voice from behind the group, "has 'Titania' worn off then?"

The little group spun around. "Jellal?" questioned Erza, "what are you doing h-here?" she stuttered on the last word, just then catching sight of what he was wearing. Scarlett clutched her stomach, her face going bright red from trying to hold back laughter. Jellal was dressed in simply the most ginormous trousers she'd ever seen. Really, they must have been about twenty sizes too big for him and they billowed behind him in the wind. If that wasn't enough, he was dressed in a thick purple coat with orange stars, a scarf and a pair of gloves and it was a hot sunny day. By now Erza was struggling to restrain her own mirth.

"Er Jellal, did you look outside before you got dressed this morning?" asked Erza.

He scowled, "Its Winter," he protested.

"That aside, I repeat did you look outside before you got dressed this morning?"

"I think she meant did you look in the mirror after you got dressed this morning?" whispered Scarlett, eyeing the purple coat with bright orange stars and dissolving into peals of laughter.

Jellal groaned inwardly. He had not come to Magnolia like this at all, but upon his arrival he had tripped and fallen into the vat of cow dung (or fertiliser as the owner called it) which had been shipped freshly from Haregon. He had had to buy new clothes and as it was almost festival day he could only find one shop that was open. He had bought the scarf and gloves because from his neck and hands there still emanated the faint smell of poo. But he would rather die than admit this story to Erza. So he pretended to have misunderstood the weather report. Though he wasn't sure this story was much better. His situation wasn't helped either by the two strange kids who were rolling around laughing at Erza's feet. Nor by Sora, who woke with a start, took one look at Jellal and asked Erza why he had parachutes attached to his legs.

A good five minutes later the group had recovered from the sight of Jellal and now they were all walking cheerfully together around magnolia, though strangers kept giving Jellal funny looks. The children ambled ahead of them, Scarlett shouting about how cool it was to be a Fairy Tail mage and how she would defeat every enemy that dared to challenge her. Her brother was less reserved than usual as he forgot they were surrounded by people and was pretending to shoot her with imaginary blasts of magic. Jellal watched the children playing together.

"I expect these kids will be some good publicity for Fairy Tail."

"I know," Erza replied, noting the curious and amused looks the children were getting. She looked back at Jellal quickly, not wanting him to get the wrong idea, "that's not why we took them in though."

He smiled, "I know."

"You know," she said, suddenly serious, "it's nice to spend time together like this, without anything horrible happening. After all you and I are practically walking disasters."

"Oh our time together hasn't been that horrible," said Jellal with much irony, "I mean I only tried to kill you."

The pair laughed, grinning widely at each other, having one of their moments. Scarlett was staring at them. Had she known the term, she would have said 'there's a lot of sexual tension between those two' as it were she actually said "I think you two secretly want to marry each other."

Jellal went as red as Erza's hair, while Erza merely pretended that she had not heard what Scarlett said. "How about we all go and get cake?" she said, changing the subject.

Neil cheered but Scarlett still stared at the pair of them, "alright," she said slyly, "but let's all hold hands so we don't get lost."

Erza shot Scarlett a death glare but couldn't deny such a reasonable request. She was forced to take Jellal's hand while Scarlett took her other and Neil's. Scarlett grinned evilly to herself; grown-ups were _so_ fun to mess with. Erza led the way to the only cake shop that would be open today. Run by a grumpy old woman who would never condescend to be seen at a festival or anything so degrading (and fun) as that. It wasn't the best shop but it couldn't be helped, at least they sold strawberry cake. The shop was hard to find, they wove through countless alleys and busy streets. Scarlett's hand holding idea turning out to be a very sensible one. On the way, Neil and Scarlet who had very seldom had cake in their lives were running through images of all the many types of cake, Erza was picturing her one-and-only; the strawberry cake. And Jellal- well he wasn't thinking about cake at all, his thoughts were composed of nothing more than 'Erza is holding my hand, Erza is holding my hand, ERZA IS HOLDING MY HAND'. They had been walking in this fashion for about 20 minutes before Erza suddenly stopped.

"I'm sorry," cried Erza falling to her knees, "I've taken us the wrong way, please.. punch me." The kids sweatdropped.

"Erm that's okay Erza, don't worry."

"I know," she yelled suddenly jumping to her feet and punching the air with her fist. The kids jumped. "There's a map of Magnolia back at the guild, I'll go get it, wait here." And she galloped off down the street.

The kids gaped after her, then looked slowly up at Jellal.

"So…." He said awkwardly. Struggling to think of conversation, "what are your favourite colours?"

Erza was almost back at the guild by now, she had requipped into her flight armour in order to get to there as fast as possible. When she entered she rushed straight over to the bar.

"Mira, where is that map of Magnolia?"

"Hmm, it's around here somewhere. Give me a second," replied Mira and she began to search.

Erza surveyed the guild why she was waiting, she caught sight of Gray. Man, he was acting weird. She leaned over the bar and whispered, "Hey Mira, why isn't Gray stripping?"

"We don't know," Mira whispered back, "but he's been acting really strange, that attack must have really shaken him up."

The two were roused from their conversation by the sound of gasping. Their heads turned, following the noise. Juvia stood illuminated in the doorway of their guild, a severely beaten up Gray held bridal style in her arms. The guild looked from the Gray sitting alone at a table, to the Gray and Juvia in the doorway and back to the other Gray again. In thinking about which scene was more likely; just Gray, or Gray and Juvia, everyone instantly understood.

"INTRUDER!" someone yelled.

**Please take a moment to review :)**

**Sorry if this chapter wasn't very interesting, I'll try to make up for it in the next chapter where there will be a SHOWDOWN with fake Gray and I think we're due another battle flashback if there's room, not sure when Mira will flashback though. Oh and for those of you that don't know, neko means cat in Japanese.**

**Muse for this chapter: 'Walking Disasters' by the Wombats.**

**All secrets will be revealed eventually, so keep reading lovely people!**


	5. Chapter 5: The Night of the Hunter

**Cheers to the new folk who alerted/favourited my story: chibi0817, Gimme-Cookies, Alkitty, Half-Demon-Cali, Jesse Sakura, fairytailisthebest, Roar-Of -The-Pancake-Dragon, GakuenLME, Nienna Dorthonian.**

**Great big barrels of love to everybody who reviewed: GoldenRoseLuceTanya (I never understand your reviews lol), MaJorReader619 (thankyou and aha fab that was what I was aiming for), aprildragonfire16 (thankyou), Raicheda (thankyou and you'll have to wait and see), Srai (thankyou), nyanana (yes you are and thankyou for your review, I have a fear of being boring), ichigolover (merci), xXLovelyAnimeLoverXx (thankyou and I hope I don't disappoint!), Imouto-chan(you're so impatient, hurry up and come home kay?), Queen of Narnia49 (nice to hear from you again! I hope I don't disappoint you with the fight), Guestx6 (I'd love to reply to you guys but since you all left your name as guest I can't differentiate, but thankyou very much for your reviews).**

Chapter Five: Night of the Hunter

"_INTRUDER!" someone yelled._

For a split second everything was completely still and then everybody was moving at once. Six years ago Fairy Tail might have thought someone impersonating one of their members was an amusing prank pulled by another guild. But no-one thought that way anymore and no-one bothered to ask the intruder questions before launching into action.

Laxus, who was closest to the fake Gray threw himself at him, lightning bolt in hand. The intruder didn't move a muscle, but an instant before he would have been struck, a mirror appeared in front of him and reflected Laxus' lightning bolt back at the caster. The blow sent Laxus crashing backwards, breaking furniture as he went. The rest of the guild froze. Cana felt a bead of sweat run down her face._ Did that man just take out Laxus with one blow? _Because of this, everyone who had been preparing attacks hesitated. Unfortunately the intruder did not.

He sprung up from his bench, his arms erupting into chains. With them he picked up the delirious form of Gildarts, who had inconveniently chosen this moment to be in the middle of a drunken stupor and flung him at ten other guild members. All eleven of them fell in a crumpled and helpless heap. In the same movement the intruder was in front of them, the chains morphed into scythes and he swung. But was stopped by Elfman in his beast form. Everyone attempted to go and help Elfman, only to find that they could not move a muscle. The intruder had cast a binding spell without them noticing and it was so strong that even Erza and the master were immobilised.

"A real man doesn't attack his opponents when they are incapacitated!" Elfman yelled, the scythes digging into his arms.

The intruder ignored this, yanking his scythes out of Elfman's flesh for another attack. Evergreen, who was stuck in the pile of bodies protected by Elfman screamed for him to move, desperately trying to free herself. The intruder scowled at this outburst and froze the pile of people behind Elfman as well. They couldn't speak, they couldn't even blink, but were forced to watch as the intruder swung his weapons once more at the now completely defenceless take-over mage.

The blades sunk this time not into his arms, but his chest and buried themselves there. Evergreen saw the blades appearing through Elfman's back. The intruder then pulled the scythes back out, a large spurt of blood bursting from Elfman's chest in their wake.

Mirajane screamed.

A dreadful, tortured, bloodcurdling scream. Her legs gave way beneath her and she collapsed, screaming and sobbing. She had broken the body binding spell. At that same moment so did four others. Evergreen for a second was completely still, staring disbelievingly at Elfman, and then suddenly Mira wasn't the only one screaming. She threw the still frozen bodies of her guild mates off her and lunged for the intruder, but was held back by a miraculously still conscious Elfman. Lisanna likewise, had broken free. She too would have gone for the intruder, had she not been beaten by the master who was already trying to crush the man in a gigantic fist. The other guild members understood, only those who were closest to Elfman had been able to find the strength to break the spell. Evergreen was his fiancé, Mira and Lisanna were his sisters and of course for the master, everybody at Fairy Tail was one of his children. The fourth person to have broken the spell however did not do it for Elfman. Freed had broken the binding spell when he saw what was happening to Mira. She was in a dreadful state, still screaming her head off, writhing around on the floor, like she had no idea that a battle was still raging around her. He gripped her arms and shouted her name, but it seemed like she could not hear him. It was obvious that the attack on her brother had sparked some kind of psychological fit.

Above everyone's heads, the master was swinging his fists violently trying to hit the intruder, who had somehow escaped his grasp. Bits of roof, knocked free by the master and intruder rained down on the guild. Freed threw himself on top of Mira to shield her from the deluge and elsewhere Evergreen tried to do the same for Elfman. Covering his wounds, trying to stop the bleeding with her own hands.

The falling debris caused several others to break the spell as they dived to protect loved ones. The Connell parents made a sort of roof over their children, while others used magic to obliterate the falling objects. For that moment the guild looked ready to wage war together against the intruder.

But then abruptly, the guild members were all finding it very hard to breathe. The air around them was being sucked away. People collapsed on the floor, their insides starting to scream in the lack of oxygen.

"Bow down to me or they die," came an emotionless, deadly voice.

The Fairy Tail members struggled to move their heads in the direction of the voice. The intruder and the master seemed to have reached a stalemate. The intruder's palm faced the floor and from their angle, the members could see fast moving air. He was the one taking the oxygen. The master's expression was twisted in indecision and pain. If he kept fighting, his children would die. But if he gave in, then the intruder would surely kill them later anyway. But really he had no choice. The master stopped using magic and bowed. Suddenly all the guild members could breathe again and all lay panting on the ground. The enemy smirked and struck the bowed master too quickly for anybody to see what he had done. A plume of smoke arose and when it cleared, the intruder stood with his foot on the motionless form of the guild master. A terrible silence overtook the guild. The intruder pointed a scythe to the old man's throat and opened his mouth to say something.

But by then Erza had had enough.

The second she had the strength to move she was on her feet, requipped into her Heaven's wheel armour and sending swords flying towards the intruder. He reflected them back at her, once more using the mirror. Erza dodged them all and requipped again. They dodged and danced around each other, Erza being forced to requip every couple of minutes in order to cope with the intruder's broad range of abilities. '_What is this man?'_ Erza thought. Throughout this battle she had seen him use five different magic styles: mirror magic, chain magic, air magic, some form of weapon requip and whatever he had used on the master. This was certainly a formidable opponent.

Their battle was high-paced and intense, but after a little while, Erza began to notice that the more the man changed the ability he used, the more tired he seemed to become. She immediately began a long chain of requips, forcing the man to use everything he had. And before long, Erza was starting to land blows. The intruder was sweating profusely and was starting to get quite battered. He seemed to realise that this was a fight he couldn't win and so resorted to one last underhand trick. Suddenly the man's arm began to glow and strange markings appeared around his wrist. Erza froze, she recognised this mark.

"Maguilty sense," whispered Erza shocked, just how an earth did this man possess the same lost magic as Meredy.

"That's right," said the man, a subtle smile twisting his blank face, "back down Titania, anything you do to me will be felt by your precious nakama here." And he pointed at a helpless Levy, who bore the same mark, proving that the intruder had indeed performed the spell and linked their fates.

Erza scowled, this man was a coward using all the dirty tricks in the book. But if he thought he could take down Titania or Fairy Tail with spineless behaviour like this, then he was wildly mistaken. Erza merely closed her eyes and requipped once more.

"Samurai Armour!" she cried.

She was dressed in one of her newest requip outfits. It was a kimono-style navy dress, with thigh-high slits up both sides of the skirt and dark leggings underneath. Her hair was wound in a tight bun and she had a tough metal plate on each forearm. In each hand she wielded a sodegarami (a long pole weapon about2 meters in length, with multiple barbed heads, facing forwards and backwards. Used by the samurai class in feudal Japan to capture criminals without hurting them). Erza smirked to herself. Within ten seconds she had the intruder pinned to a wall, the sodegarami entangled in his clothes. He, and therefore Levy had not received any more damage.

The guild cheered loudly. Erza soon had the man bound to a chair in the centre of the guild with magic nullifying rope (the guild had taken to stocking this sort of precautionary item at the guild since the battle six years ago). As soon as the ropes touched him, the intruder's link to Levy vanished. Everyone was now picking themselves up the floor, checking if people were injured, while a small crowd was trying to help Elfman and the master. Elfman's wounds were very serious, both he and Evergreen were drenched in his blood. The master showed no cosmetic signs of injury and a pulse was identified, however it proved impossible to wake him. Unfortunately Wendy still wasn't back from her mission, so Lily hurriedly flew off to fetch Porlyusica. Mira had by now stopped screaming, she was lying on the floor in the fetal position, still crying. Freed sat helplessly next to her, but neither he nor anyone else could elicit a response from her. Juvia also had not moved but was still standing in the entrance clutching Gray, refusing to let anyone else near him.

The guild too was a complete state, but at least it was still standing and lots of furniture was still intact; including (to Cana's delight) the bar. Everyone was trying to clear up a bit, trying to pretend that they weren't thoroughly shaken by the just-passed events.

Erza was the only one not contributing, instead marching in a circle around the intruder. She looked, thought the other guild members, like a predator circling its prey and they fervently thanked Mavis that her anger wasn't directed at them. Erza was torn between extreme stress and relief. On the one hand she was infinitely grateful that Neil and Scarlett had been absent at the time of the attack, on the other a very dangerous man had just attacked the guild and seriously injured a member, not to mention the master. Erza wanted answers. And she wanted them _now_.

Without warning, Erza stopped pacing and swung to face the intruder. His face was completely blank. She stared intimidatingly down at him and begun her interrogation.

"Your attempt to hurt our guild has very much upset me stranger."

"Did it?" he replied.

"Yes, it did."

"Did it?"

"YES, it did."

"Oh it did, did it?"

"YES!" she requipped into a chef's attire and brandished a saucepan over the man's head. "Do you want me to show you just _how much_ it upset me, smart arse?"

"Spill the beans now mate," said Wakaba, who was watching the scene, "getting hit with a blow from Erza would be painful enough even without a saucepan."

The intruder turned his head to face Wakaba, throughout the whole conversation and resulting threats his blank expression had not changed a bit.

"Would it?"

"Alright THAT'S IT," yelled Erza. She swung the saucepan, but froze when she was about an inch away from the man's head. She, like most others in the guild was transfixed by the man's expression. All of a sudden his eyes had focused on something and the most terrible look overtook his features. Everyone's heads swivelled to see what he was staring at and met the eyes of two children who had just entered the guild, the pair were likewise paralysed to the spot, but in their case in fear of the man who was staring directly at them.

Jellal had headed back to the guild with Neil and Scarlett once he had sensed the intruder use 'maguilty sense', assuming of course that Meredy had come to Fairy Tail. Unwittingly doing exactly what the intruder wished.

The intruder moved so fast that no-one had time to react. Launching himself across the room at the kids, breaking the ropes that bound him. They were all too slow; nobody would be able to get there in time. The guild members watched in horror as the man's arms warped into scythes ready to impale the children.

Neil reacted with reflexes so lightning fast that they bespoke many years of experience. He ducked beneath the man's scythes and hit him under the chin with a fist pulsing with a sort of swirling, green light. The blow flung the man skywards and for a second he seemed to hang suspended in mid-air before Scarlett's snapped out of her frozen state and came to her brother's aid. In the time it took for the man to reach the peak of his upwards flight; Scarlett had raised her right arm in the traditional Fairy Tail salute. Just as the man started to fall a strange force emanated from her fingers. A gold circle flew from them expanding as it went. It collided with the man's chest, throwing him back so hard that he smashed through the concrete wall of the guild and out to where the swimming pool lay.

The guild stared, torn between shock and amazement. Jellal choked on his own spit and gaped at Neil. _No way did that kid just use a lost magic?_

The shock of the attack made the siblings sit down, Scarlett turned to the unusually alert ginger exceed and muttered so that no-one else could hear, "Guess we _were_ followed after all Sora."

**So thoughts? Reviews are greatly appreciated.**

**I thought this chapter ended quite nicely here, so Mira's battle flashback will be in the next one. **

**I realised I took a while longer to update this time, sorry minna! I'm busy now and can't update as often as I did at the start but I'll say that one week will always be the maximum time you'll have to wait.**

**This chapter is named after 'Night of the Hunter' by 30 Seconds to Mars. **


	6. Chapter 6: Complicated

**GANG I'M SO HAPPY, I HAVE OVER 50 REVIEWS AND FOLLOWERS! I never thought it would get so many, so a big THANKYOU to everyone who has supported this story.**

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**Once again much love to the lovely reviewers: GoldenRoseLuceTanya, Tosho (ahh you will eventually), MaJorReader619 (I'll update whenever I have a chance, sorry to make you wait), Blitzing(cheers), Srai (cheers and you'll find out soon!), Wasabi-kun (you're right, surviving is much more MANLY! So of course he has to live), Imouto-chan, xXLovelyAnimeLoverXx (merci and well here it is!), olivia the rat (thankyou), Flameflinger Girl (cheers, I will!).**

Chapter six: Complicated

The clock had just struck eleven. Mira now stood alone in a deserted guildhall. Everyone had packed up and gone to bed early, even the usual late-night stragglers like Cana and Wakaba. Mira was completely undisturbed, apart from when the sentinels the guild had posted on look-out came to swap shifts. All Fairy Tail members were extremely tense and anxious. In the interest of safety and solidarity it had been decided that everyone would sleep in Fairy Hills, even those who had residence in the rest of Magnolia. They also had six members outside the front of the guild, acting as guards. No-one was taking any chances after the fake-Gray incident. Mira's hands shook as she remembered. After Scarlett had blasted the intruder through the wall, everyone ran outside to find him. He was in pretty bad shape and would have needed urgent medical attention, except that the moment a Fairy Tail member had been close enough to touch him, he promptly committed suicide, blowing himself to smithereens. The explosion had put four additional guild members in the infirmary.

Mira's hands shook when she thought of the infirmary. She had not been, what was the word … coherent, when the man killed himself. She had still been curled up in a ball inside the guild. When she had come to her senses, she was in the infirmary with the others. Everyone had been fussing over her and enquiring about her little episode. She had rebuffed all their questions and their concerns, insisted that she was fine and left the infirmary as quick as she could. The very smell of that place made her feel nauseous. She had caught a glimpse of Elfman being tended by Porlyusica as she left, the sight of him in that state made her feel like she was about to break in two.

She had gone downstairs and busied herself with the bar, going through the motions, pretending, like she had done for six years. Hiding her pain, she pretended to be cheerful as one could be under the circumstances. She pretended that seeing Elfman almost die had not brought up _those _memories of _that_ day. She had always acted as though _it_ had never happened. The same way she had when Lisanna had 'died', pretended that everything was alright when actually she felt like she was dying inside.

She was drying the dishes now, staring blankly into space in the empty guild. She picked up a sharp bread knife. _Elfman had been so badly injured today and it had scared her_. She ran the cloth down the edge of the knife. _No, it had terrified her._ _It had been so close._ The knife's edge glinted in the moonlight drifting in through a window that was slightly ajar. _If the intruder's aim had been a little different, he could have been stabbed in the heart, the lung or another vital organ. _Mira ran her fingers down the flat side of the knife, it was so smooth. _What if he had been killed? She didn't think she would be able to take losing someone else. _Almost unconsciously, Mira held the knife above her left wrist_. These thoughts, these memories, they hurt so much. She needed a distraction, anything, anything to stop them, something to block out the pain, the agony._ The hand holding the knife lurched towards her exposed wrist.

Another hand slammed into her own, knocking the knife out of her grasp. The sound of it clattering to the ground seemed to wake Mira from her trance-like state. She looked up slowly to see Freed standing beside her, his hand still outstretched from slapping hers, his face a deadly white. He looked utterly terrified.

"Mira," he choked, "what were you doing with that knife?"

She just stared at him for a moment, before her legs started to shake and tears started to burn in her eyes. She reached out and gripped the front of Freed's shirt and he gripped her arms fiercely. She couldn't take it anymore. She had thought that she would never tell him. But now… she cracked, and told him everything.

_Mira's Flashback_

_Mira was skipping happily to the guild. She couldn't remember ever being this happy. She simply had to tell Freed right now. She was sure he'd be happy too. _

_Sure that he would love to have a child. _

_The strange symptoms had assaulted over the past few weeks but she hadn't figured it out until she realised that her stomach was rather larger than usual. She had gone to the doctors and been informed that she was four months pregnant. And she was absolutely ecstatic. She had always been a motherly figure in the guild, looking after her younger siblings and everyone else to be honest. But she had always dreamed of having her own child. And now this dream was going to be fulfilled._

_She came in through the back entrance of the guild, sneaking up behind Freed and obviously catching him of guard. Mira laughed happily at his reaction. She had been about to tell him when the attackers had struck. But she now found herself unexpectedly in the thick of battle and she could see no way out. She froze, her heart and her head battling over what she should do. _

_Her heart screamed that all who were dear to her were at the guild; Freed, her siblings, everyone. They would need her help to stop this attack, she was an s-class mage, her abilities would make a significant difference to the outcome of the fight. She couldn't abandon her nakama!_

_But her head yelled just as loud. HER CHILD. It roared, a battle was too dangerous for it. Her friends would understand, they would want her to run and protect the unborn baby. If she stayed and was injured then the child might-_

_But Mira never had to make that choice._

_Her indecision had left her a sitting duck, an obvious target. She did not see the mage with the glowing trident in his hands approach her from behind. Didn't see him swing the weapon. But felt it, when the spikes pierced her body. She knew an intense blinding agony and looked down at the source. Three spikes had impaled her through her stomach. Her stomach. HER STOMACH._

_Mira screamed._

_Rage, grief and anger at her own stupidity overwhelmed her. She yanked her own body off the spikes and killed the man who had stabbed her with one blow. She charged drunkenly through the crowd, any foes in the path of her rampage died instantly. She was trying not to think of it, not to know what the wounds through her stomach would mean._

_But she did know._

_She tripped on a chunk of rubble and fell hard on her face. She didn't try to get up. She just crammed her fingers into her ears, trying to block out the screams. The screams of her dying child that no-one but she could hear._

_Then she blacked out._

But the screaming never stopped, not once in the six years since. She tried to tell herself that the unborn baby could never have screamed, but that didn't make any difference. She was pleased that she had not had time to tell Freed before the battle, otherwise she thought he might hear the screaming too. She had broken up with him straight after the battle of course; she couldn't bear to look at him. Not after she had lost their child.

Mira looked up at Freed now, her story finished. He looked shocked and _very_ angry. As he should, she thought, after all she had practically killed his child. He was gripping her arms so tightly now that it hurt a little.

"Mira," he said quietly, "how could you keep this to yourself all these years? No… _why_ did you keep this to yourself?! I could have helped you."

Mira didn't know what to say, she felt overwhelmed.

"I- I- my fault," was all she managed to get out.

"No," said Freed, and he looked positively alight with rage. "This was not your fault! Do you understand me?" And he gave her a little shake. "So don't you dare go blaming yourself!"

Tears were streaking silently down Mira's face now. Freed crushed her to him in a tight embrace and Mira clung to him, shocked to feel just how much she had missed him all these years.

"You're not going to go through this alone anymore, alright!" he said, his voice shaking slightly.

Mira took a deep breath, knowing that once again she was in for a starling life change. "Alright," came her whispered concurrence.

Meanwhile in Fairy Hills two children lay awake in their beds. Erza had frogmarched Neil and Scarlett upstairs the second the intruder's remains had scattered across the guild floor. After telling them that they would stay in her room and setting up beds, she had barricaded all the windows and proceeded to march up and down in the corridor outside the room. Just in case anyone else decided to attack.

Erza was beyond furious, the intruder could have killed the kids and she had done nothing to prevent it. It was her responsibility to look after those children; if anything happened to them she did not know how she would ever forgive herself.

Jellal had excused himself from the guild after helping move the injured to the infirmary. He was going to meet up with Meredy and Ultear. The intruder's attack had unsettled him as had the magic of those two children. He had no idea what magic Scarlett had used but as for Neil, Jellal was 120% sure that he had used a lost magic. That begged the question of how, but the intruder was a more pressing problem. Jellal felt that a full investigation of the part of Crime Sorcière was called for.

Half of Fairy Tail was now asleep, unconscious or on guard. But the two people who were in most need of sleep could not rest. Neil and Scarlett were completely alone in Erza's room. Sora had insisted on flying around the guild all night on look-out. He had been very upset that he had missed the intruder and was trying to make up for his mistake. But the children would have preferred him to stay with them. They were very shaken. Something had gone wrong. The hunters who pursued them had never tried to kill them before, only capture them. But the look in the eyes of the hunter from earlier, as he flew at them with scythes in his hands, displayed clearly this new intent.

_Something_ had changed.

And it terrified them. All they could do was make guesses and speculate, there was no way of knowing. Scarlett rolled over in the bed. She had never slept in one before, let alone had one to herself. Their little family had always slept huddled together for warmth and security and the hugeness of the bed made her feel very alone. Eventually she got out and clambered in with her brother and the children clung to each other, like they had done for years, trying to pretend that they did not have the ominous feeling that something very big and dreadful was lurking just around the corner.

**Please Review :)**

**So I think lots of you had already guessed what happened to Mira, so hmmm a challenge, I must think of less predictable story lines. BRING IT… well er actually I think the whole story is a bit predictable but ahh well, I'll do my best.**

**And sorry if this chapter was a little short, but I'm kinda pressed for time right now.**

**This chapter was named after 'Complicated' by Avril Lavinge.**

**Also I'm not sure if I'll be able to update next week because I'm going on holiday and I'm not sure if I'll have access to wifi, so we'll see.**


	7. Chapter 7: Run For Your Life

**YO, I'm back home sweet home.**

**So, this chapter we finally have a little insight into the kids past.**

**Thankyou to all who alerted/favourited: Alien She, DemonPrincessKleo, youshouldn'tneedtoknow, Rangiku9815, Srai, Nadeshiko Redfox, washing-machines, Neongurl1999, Rin Ride, HappyTheDragon, Lucy-Erza-Hearthfilia, NoTengoUnNombre.**

**aaand to everybody who took the time to review: xxx4everAlonexxx (hehe happy dance, like Ikkaku in Bleach? and thankyouu, you can have a DOUBLE cheers this time), Imouto-chan (*sticks tongue out at bossy sister*), GoldenRoseTanya, toriwhite.9256 (aha fab, hope I don't disappoint), DarkXFeatheredCosmic (yeah gotta love mira and freed and thankyouu), Guest (aha fab! leaving you with questions is what I was aiming for), aprildragonfire16 (arww that's so nice! And afraid you won't find out about the magic just yet though), SunsetRika (cheers and I've tried to, but the kids have got to have centre stage!), celestial spirit (****Arigatou!),** **MelodyKey (thanksyou but I can't really say it's a plot secret), Wasabi-kun (your reviews always make me laugh, and I think you probably do know, OR DO YOU? *laughs evilly*, ahem yes I think you do), MaJorReader619 (hehe, you ARE smart, I was waiting for someone to figure that out), xXLovelyAnimeLoverXx (fab, I hope I won't disappoint), Guest (you will now, *smiles* and as fast as I can pal), ****Argon Jaden Siberite Jewel (cheers, that's the plan).**

Chapter 7: Run For Your Life

_Lucy was running towards him, her blond hair streaking out behind her, a huge grin plastered on her face. Natsu's smile mirrored her own as he stretched out his arms to catch her. Natsu waited, it was strange but …. she didn't seem to be getting any closer. Lucy was calling for him now, she sounded anxious._

"_Natsu!" _

'_I'm here Lucy!' he tried to shout, but found that he couldn't move his lips._

_Lucy continued to call his name, her voice becoming more and more desperate. Suddenly Lucy was surrounded by hundreds of faceless men. Together they lifted a stone up and down, continuously dropping it on Lucy and crushing her. She was now positively screaming his name. And yet, Natsu still couldn't move. 'Lucy!' he tried to yell, 'LUCY!'_

_But the men continued to crush her and the loud banging of the stone hitting the floor intensified. And just when Natsu thought that he could bear it no longer._

He woke with a start. His hair plastered to his face with sweat. A dream, he told himself, just a dream. _Just another nightmare about Lucy_. But if it was just a dream, then why was the banging still continuing?

It took him several more moments to register that the banging was coming from the front door and not from inside his head. Someone was knocking, no, pounding on his front door. Not sorry to have been woken from his nightmare Natsu jumped up to get the door and then froze as the realisation stuck him.

There was only one person he knew who would ignore a perfectly serviceable doorbell and attack a front door like that.

Erza.

Natsu began to sweat again. _Had he done something?_ Erza had never called at his house before. In fact, how the hell did Erza even know where he lived? He had never shown anybody to his house except well himself, Happy and … Lucy. Natsu swallowed and continued to the door, figuring it would be best to get it over with. If there was one thing that Lucy's absence hadn't changed about Natsu, it was his entrenched fear of the scarlet-haired knight.

Natsu took a deep breath and pulled the door open. "I didn't do it Erza I swear," he squeaked.

Erza swelled indignantly. Natsu recoiled, "make it quick then" he said falling to his knees.

Erza scowled at him "Natsu stop talking rubbish and come to the guild with me this instant, there was an attack last night."

Natsu jumped to attention at once, "explain," he ordered.

Erza gave an account of Juvia's entrance with the real Gray and then of the battle and its results. "… so everyone slept at the guild for safety, we would have come and brought you to the guild too but no-one knew where you lived except I, and as I needed to stay and protect the kids I decided that your abilities were adequate enough and the location of your house obscure enough to ensure your safety."

"Erm, right." Natsu replied, not sure if Erza was complimenting him or not. He wanted to ask _how_ she knew where his house was, but decided that now was not the moment to ask.

Meanwhile back at the guild, two children were being lightly shaken awake. Levy hovered over them, torn between 'arwwing' at their cuteness in sleeping huddled together like that and laughing at the loud snores emanating from the little girl. Levy frowned in frustration, shaking somebody with one arm was kind of difficult. Eventually she resorted to tickling, which caused Scarlett to wake with an especially loud and comical snort.

Levy chuckled, "it's time to get up now sweetheart."

Scarlett nodded and scrambled out of bed. Levy winced as she stretched and clicked all her joints. She then moved to shake Neil, frowning as he remained asleep.

"I haven't been able to wake your brother yet though,"

"Oh you won't be able to wake him like that; he's like a dead body when he sleeps." said Scarlett, "here, I'll help you."

She jumped up next to Levy and shook Neil so hard that the entire bed quivered.

"Hmm, it's still not working," she said, "Maybe I should kick him?"

"No no," said Levy hastily, mentally wincing at what Erza would do to her if she came back and found out that she had allowed the children to start kicking each other. "I'm sure we'll be able to find another way."

Levy went to the bathroom to fetch as glass of water to pour on Neil, she re-entered the bedroom in enough time to see Scarlett run out of patience and shove Neil off the bed.

"HEY, what'd you do that for?"

"You wouldn't wake up! You sleep so deeply it's like a coma!"

"Well it's got to be deep if I'm going to block out your DEAFENING snores!"

The argument rapidly descended into a wrestling match, with poor Levy at the side lines trying to pull them apart. _What energetic children._ She managed go stop them by pouring the glass of water over both of their heads. They looked up at Levy like wounded puppies, with water dripping down their faces.

"Now children," said Levy, trying and failing to be stern. "That's quite enough, you have to get washed and dressed now." 'Before Erza comes back' she added silently.

"Washed?" repeated the two children, Scarlett in the tone of disgust and Neil of confusion.

"But _where_?" asked Neil

"But _whyyy_?" moaned Scarlett

Levy was confused by their questions, so she simply took Neil's hand and led him towards the bathroom. He dragged his sister with him.

Scarlett stopped quite suddenly and started patting her clothes in a panic. "The KEYS!" she yelled.

"Scar, Erza has them remember!" said Neil, while Levy nodded in agreement.

"Oh yeah," said Scarlett, calming down. "But wait, where's Erza?"

"She went to get Natsu, he's the only who wasn't at the guild when the intruder attacked yesterday," answered Levy.

Scarlett looked slightly crestfallen, "will she be back soon?"

"Very soon," said Levy encouragingly. The mention of Erza only made her want to get the children to the bathroom quicker. But once inside, the bathroom only seemed to confuse the children more.

"It's a shower," said levy looking at the bewildered children, who were staring about the place.

"A what?"

"A _shower, _haven't you ever used one before?"

"No."

"So how did you wash?"

"Whenever we found a lake or something."

Levy's heart seemed to contract painfully. _They'd never used a shower_. She knew their circumstances meant that they would have had a difficult life, but she had not imagined that they had lived without basic necessities, like clean water. Levy felt her eyes tearing up and hurriedly brushed them away before explaining the workings of a shower.

"So water comes out of this?" said Neil dubiously, nudging the side of the shower with his foot.

Levy nodded, "why don't you try it?"

Scarlett crossed her arms stubbornly across her chest, "I don't like washing!" she said.

"But you've got to wash," said Levy flummoxed, "or – or, you will catch dangerous diseases."

"They can't hurt me; I'll defeat any diseases that challenge me!"

Neil and Levy sweat-dropped, "it's not that sort of enemy…."

"It's alright," whispered Neil, "I'll get her in. SCAR, LAST ONE IN THE SHOWER IS A LOOOSER!"

"You're a loser, you're a loser!" she chanted, practically throwing herself into the shower. Neil winked at Levy and followed her in.

As it turned out it, Scarlett took liking to the 'rain-machine' (previously known as the shower) and refused to get out for over an hour. But if Levy was honest, the children really needed the extended wash. The amount of dirt that came pouring off their bodies and clothes was truly incredible. Levy was surprised their little bodies could carry so much filth. Over half of it alone seemed to come from their hair, which completely changed colour. It was now a light sort of ginger.

The kids were found spare clothes in the guild as their old ones needed to be dried, or better yet thrown out, Levy thought. Thankfully she had the pair of them settled at the bar, devouring breakfast before Erza came back.

When Natsu and Erza entered the guild, Gajeel came to drag Levy away from the children.

"Look they're back now, you don't need to stay."

"But-" Levy protested.

"Come on squirt, you need to rest, you should have never gone on look-out last night in your condition." said Gajeel and he patted her stomach.

Jet and Droy both squawked indignantly and his words, _their_ Levy couldn't be…

"I'm pregnant Gajeel NOT infirm; I can stay up for an extra couple of hours without collapsing."

Oh no the worst had really happened, Droy fainted on top of Jet, taking the smaller man out and knocking them into a heap on the floor. The rest of the guild seemed not to notice, they were all gazing excitedly at Levy and Gajeel. Freed looked anxiously at Mira to see how she would feel about this. She gave him a reassuring smile, Mira wasn't the sort of person to begrudge others happiness because she had suffered.

Gajeel picked up the protesting bookworm and carried her away from the kids, "come on, the brats can manage without you for five minutes."

Scarlett stuck her tongue out at Gajeel as he left. He returned the gesture.

Neil on the other hand was watching Natsu, who had now approached, unconsciously drawn by the smell of food. Scarlett looked round too when she felt the temperature around her rise. Natsu was staring after Levy and Gajeel with a wistful and in Scarlett's opinion, creepy look on his face.

To stop him staring more than anything she asked, "So you're a mage, huh? Tell me about your magic."

"Well I'm a Fire dragon slayer, I use fire to attack and defend and…"

"What? Yeah, yeah, cool." said Scarlett, who had stopped listening and was standing up on her chair looking for Erza.

Natsu looked mildly annoyed, why did she ask him if she wasn't going to listen? Neil smirked to himself, if it had been anyone else he would have apologised by now for Scarlett's short attention span, but no, not with _this_ guy.

"Unfortunately I wasn't here when my powers could have been of use," Natsu muttered to himself, "but if anyone tries to hurt my nakama again I'll turn them into ashes!" and a ball of bright fire lit up his fist. Neil tried to yell for him to put it out, but the cry was only halfway formed before Scarlett had seen.

She cried out. In her haste to get away from the flames she fell off the bar stool onto the floor, where she lay with her arms wrapped around her head, shrieking in terror. Neil was beside her in an instant.

He turned to Natsu, "STOP, STOP! She's afraid of fire!"

He hugged his sister tightly as Natsu extinguished the flames, "it's okay Scar, it's okay."

_Scarlett's flashback:_

_Their little group (four humans in total; a little boy and girl and two young women) was trudging through a particularly marshy part of the woods. The wilderness in which they lived was so total that when they saw it they could hardly believe their eyes._

"_A house!" Scarlett shouted, recognising the building from her mother's descriptions._

"_It's empty," said her twin to their mother, after giving the house a quick scan._

"_I guess we can stay there then," she replied. The young mother wasn't naïve enough to think that a house this far from civilisation would have electricity or running water. But it was shelter and that was something._

"_YAY!" cheered Scarlett and sprinted towards the house._

"_So she had enough energy to run but not enough energy to carry Sora," muttered the boy grumpily as he followed his sister._

_Their mother just laughed._

_When they reached the house they saw that it was very large, practically a mansion. The kids were absolutely awestruck. When inside the gloomy building, unfortunately devoid of furniture, their mother turned to them._

"_Alright kids, mum has some spells she needs to try out. So you go and pick a room where we'll sleep, not too far okay?" _

"_Okay," they replied enthusiastically and ran off. Their mother smiled indulgently after them, before turning to meet the enquiring gaze of the other lady._

_She scratched her bubble-gum pink hair, "I should go with them, no?"_

"_Yes," replied the mother, "thank you."_

_The other pink-haired lady followed the children out of the room, leaving the mage alone to her spells._

_Scarlett chose a room on the second floor and she and her brother settled down to sleep. The pink-haired woman hovered protectively by the door to the room as the exhausted children drifted off._

_Scarlett woke to an unpleasant smell and uncomfortable heat. The sun was creating flickering shadows on the wall of the room, except…..the sun doesn't cause flickering shadows. No, the house was on fire! The room was full of smoke and there were loud voices and shouting coming from very close by. Scarlett turned her head sharply; her brother was no longer next to her! She looked to the door where see could see dark figures fighting their pink-haired protector, but she looked like she was losing. Scarlett started to get up, she had to help! But she didn't get beyond a sitting position before she was frozen in place. A binding spell? Oh no, not more hunters!_

_Scarlett couldn't even see who was casting the spell. This was bad. Where was everyone else? Suddenly Scarlett felt flames licking their way up her ankles. She resisted the urge to snort derisively._

_Did these people really think they could hurt her with this?_

_Abruptly, the red flames on her legs turned black and she was engulfed in terrible, mind-splitting agony. Her scream pierced the night as she tried in desperation to break the binding spell. The pink-haired woman looked round in horror, only to receive a knife in the throat for her lack of attention and dissolve into nothingness. _

"_SCARLETT!" a voice yelled; her brother._

_She heard pounding footsteps and saw the remaining hunters blasted aside. But the fire did not go out. Her brother scrabbled desperately at her ankles, the flames burning his own palms, but he could not move her. There was a loud crash as more hunters leapt into the room. _

"_MUM!" both the children screamed._

_They could hear the sound of intense fighting going on downstairs, and then their mother's voice calling to them. There was much noise as she fought her way towards her children. By the time she reached their room the smoke was so intense that the children could only see dense figures clashing. But Scarlett felt it when her mother grabbed her ankles, extinguishing the flames and freeing her of the binding spell. She saw a flash of gold and then she and her brother were being gripped by strong arms as they made a beeline for the window. The man jumped without hesitation, knowing that they would be caught and sure enough there was the tell-tale sound of an exceed's wings and a sudden jolt as they their fall was stopped._

_Both children were yelling, "NOO, WHAT ABOUT MUM?"_

"_WE CAN'T LEAVE HER!" screamed Scarlett._

"_IT'S WHAT SHE WANTS!" the man yelled back._

_As they continued to fly away from the mansion, the children looked up into the celestial spirit's face and were terrified to see tears streaking down his cheeks._

_The lion spirit was trying desperately to control himself, "you guys come first, you are the most important" he whispered._

_There was a tone of finality in his voice that panicked Scarlett. She looked over Loke's shoulder to see her mother still fighting close to the window. The very last thing she saw was her mother's body steadily becoming engulfed by the black flames. _

That was one year ago.

And ever since that day Scarlett had been absolutely terrified of fire.

Scarlett was sobbing quietly into her brother's shoulder now, "I want mum," she whispered.

Neil flinched; Scarlett had just violated their unspoken rule never to mention their mother at times like this.

Neil closed his eyes. He felt exactly the same as Scarlett did. _So honestly, what could he say that would make her feel the slightest bit better?_

**As always please review review review :)**

**Also I'd like to say, I'm about to post a new Naruto fanfic, if you like this story and Naruto, go check it out. If you don't well er…don't then?**

**This story will still be my main focus though because FAIRY TAIL COMES FIRST (well it does in my book anyway).**

**aaand this chapter was named after 'Run For Your Life' by the Fray. It has freakily accurate lyrics for Scarlett's Flashback.**


	8. Ch8: But You've Known it the Whole Time

**SO GANG, first things first I want to say I'm so sorry it took such a ridiculously long time to update, but instead of bore you with my reasons, let go on with the next chapter!**

**Thanks to the alerters/favouriters: killerose82,Twinmoonalchemist, Skullmate, she never misses, animefreak3721, pizzas are immortal, Mari Kia Aishiteru, Tali323, nyanana, ann-lismart, Sarahdu08, CoroRedde, Vivid x Dreams, glytter, Luna Silveria, QuietDemise13, Forget-me-not XIII, Awsome KC2622, Sakura-HimexVongola, blackangel-laura, TandK4ever, lil28shinigami.**

**And the snazzy reviewers: aprildragonfire (mee too! I only have sisters), LuckyLifeSmile (that's right and she was virgo and thankyou), animelovercrowe550 (yes he is and he's where all the spirits are), MaJorReader619 (arww cheers pal, and reading your reviews always make my days much better), Blitzing (wahh, do you mean the chapter or their past?), SRai (that's the idea, um sorry for the long wait), GoldenRoseTanya (****), Wasabi-kun (I thought so – watch out for the twist though! And no it totally makes sense, tahnks for reading as always), Gimme-cookies (yes and aha that's the question isn't it XD), SunsetRika (aha fab and Loke was there because of Lucy), xxx4everAlonexxx (hehe, your excitement is infectious. I want a dance… perhaps I'll call it the REVIEW DANCE, yeah that's what I neeed. And soz we won't find that out for a while but yes they are lucy's), Raicheda (ahh fab! And all the questions will be answered soon I promise), xKeepingHappyx (thankyou, I feel guilty for taking so long now, sorry!), DarkXFeatheredCosmic (cheers pal and yeah sorry for the wait), alien she (cheers pal and well here it is), IchigoRukiaKurosakiBFTIRLHES (I've written an explanation for you at the bottom but could you tell me what does the 'BFTIRLHES' stands for, I'm curious?), imouto-chan (SOON), Guest (you've got it!), desandted (um now, I know it was ages, sorry sorry), misstirius (thankyou and yes I do, I would never leave a story unfinished).**

Chapter 8: But You've Known it the Whole Time

There was commotion in Fairy Tail. Half the guild crowded around the Neil and Scarlett in concern, while the other struggled to restrain Erza, who had attempted to kill Natsu for making Scarlett cry, even if it had been unintentional. The kids were only further distressed by all the attention, and Scarlett's sobs were increasing in volume.

It was Mira who saved the day; fighting her way through the crowd she put her arms around the children and told the other guild members to give them some space, effectively dispersing the crowd. Mira rocked Scarlett backwards and forwards, doing her best to comfort her. Mira was somewhat an expert on emotional breakdowns. Neil watched with an intense curiosity. The white-haired mage seemed different somehow. The day before her behaviour had been …. not really insincere but forced almost. Her behaviour now seemed more natural, more heartfelt. He wondered what had caused the change. Scarlett began to quiet in Mira's embrace.

"Everything is going to be okay sweetheart," whispered Mira kindly.

Scarlett sniffed loudly, "you know you're going to be a really great mother one day Mira-san."

Mira stiffened for a moment and then relaxed. Until yesterday she had considered that particular happiness an impossibility, but the hope that had stirred inside her yesterday in Freed's arms blossomed after Scarlett's words. "Maybe one day," she replied. _The kids had given her courage once more._

Mira helped the children back onto their bar stools and Erza joined them, after calming down. Mira brought them each a second round of breakfast, which they picked at unenthusiastically. The s-class mages didn't really know what else to do, but knew better than to ask why Scarlett was afraid of fire. The kids simply sat there, looking forlorn until Gajeel took the seat next to them.

"You're a little bit scrawny to be a mage," Gajeel said to Neil. "If you want to be a strong mage like me you'll have to put on a bit of weight."

Neil glanced at his sister, he wasn't really in the mood but he saw what Gajeel was trying to do and fighting would certainly be the best way to cheer Scarlett up.

"_You're_ a mage?" said Neil, deliberately incredulous.

"You know, I don't like the way you asked that question kid" sneered Gajeel, internally pleased that Neil was playing along.

Neil shrugged, leaning offensively close to Gajeel, inspecting him. "You know what they did to you in the Great Battle was really bad, all that iron in your face."

The pair heard Scarlett chuckle and marched on determinedly.

"Hey brat," said Gajeel, "these are accessories not injuries."

"Are you sure? because it looks like someone tried to nail you to the floor."

That got her and Scarlett burst out laughing, Gajeel and Neil shot each other pleased looks.

"Say that again brat!" said Gajeel

"Why have you got iron in your ears?" interjected Scarlett.

Gajeel roared in a mild imitation of anger and proceeded to chase the kids around the guild. The kids now looking much happier. Levy watched affectionately, Gajeel always had an unconventional way of doing things, but he always had good intentions. Gajeel had wanted to lighten the mood and he knew the best way to do that was to get people a bit riled up. Gajeel grinned in satisfaction, his plan had worked. Also it was nice to have someone lay into him for a change. Salamander certainly didn't anymore, Gray sometimes occasionally would but it wasn't the same enthusiasm. Gajeel knew it was strange, but he actually missed being insulted.

Natsu watched Gajeel chasing the kids, he was sitting alone at his table again. He watched as the atmosphere in the guild brightened steadily as though it was directly related to the children's moods. He watched as the game ended and the pair ran back to Erza. _What was it with those too? _His insides burned with curiosity, but he felt too guilty about upsetting the little girl to go over again. So he just sat there. He could hear conversations breaking out all around him and knew that he should have stayed at home. He really wasn't good around company anymore.

Cana was teasing Laxus, who was sitting next to her with an icepack held to his head. "I can't believe you got taken out in one blow by a guy Erza defeated!"

Levy was trying to reconcile Jet and Droy to the fact that she was pregnant. "Come on guys be happy for me. You know if it's a girl we're going to name it Joy after you guys, you know the 'J' from Jet and the 'oy' from Droy". They looked slightly mollified at this. Gajeel looked at Levy's fangirls, as he thought of them. He grinned, unfortunately for them, they weren't having a girl.

Evergreen was pointing at Gajeel and Levy and complaining to Elfman, who though heavily bandaged, was well enough to leave the infirmary.

"They announce they're pregnant the day after we get engaged? Oh they are so stealing my thunder!"

Bixlow, who was nearby laughed loudly, "haha, I get it! Stealing your thunder as in Raijinshū, thunder god tribe, haha."

The nearby company gave him odd looks, "Bixlow have you been on the crack again?"

Natsu groaned. They all acted so normally. It was suffocating, he couldn't bear it. He hadn't spent this long at the guild in a long time. He would come back from his mission only to get news from the rest of team Natsu and then straight away head out again. Staying here so long made him feel unbearably frustrated. He was wasting valuable time. But if he left before Wendy got back, unlikely as it was, he might miss something important.

He'd searched for six years now, but he didn't care. He would search until he found her, even if it took the rest of his life.

When the Battle had ended, everyone had searched for Lucy. They searched non-stop for two years until Fairy Tail was in near ruin, as nobody had been taking missions. By then the majority accepted that she really was dead. Some had kept going a little longer, like Cana, but she gave up eventually after continually trying to read Lucy's future and only seeing darkness. By now the only ones left were Team shadowgear and Gajeel, (three of which believed that Lucy was gone and only went because Levy refused to give up), Juvia (but no-one knew if she went because she believed Lucy was alive or because Gray went) and finally Team Natsu. As Lucy's teammates and closest Nakama, they would never ever give up.

They were constantly searching. They all split up so as to cover as much land as possible. They would meet back at Fairy Tail four times each year to discuss leads and progress, not that there had ever been any.

Gray watched Natsu's pained yet determined face from the balcony and knew exactly what he was thinking of. He was recovered enough to leave the infirmary now but he hadn't made it further than the top of the stairs. Somehow he just didn't have the guts to go and tell Natsu that he had found no leads on Lucy's whereabouts. He didn't want to crush the hope that still flared in Natsu's eyes each time they met up after a mission. He knew that Natsu blamed himself for Lucy's 'death'; he knew Natsu felt guilty that he couldn't protect her, Erza and Levy too, all of Fairy Tail. But he knew that not one of them felt as guilty as he did.

_Gray's Flashback:_

_Gray was trying hard not to panic. No magic. NO MAGIC. Just how the hell were they supposed to fight these guys without magic? He was a pretty decent fighter, constant fights with Natsu did that for you, but still, there was no way he could fight armed men with his bare hands._

_And everyone seemed to be in such deep trouble that he didn't know who to try and help. He had just decided on Wendy, who was staggering around as though blinded when he was caught by an immense force. Gray couldn't see the energy ball thrown from behind him, but he sure as hell felt the force of its explosion throwing him twenty feet and burning the skin off his back. When he crashed into a pile of rubble stars blinked before his eyes. He would have passed out there and then if he hadn't heard the screaming._

"_GRAY-SAMA IS DEAD!" screamed Juvia, hysterically._

_Gray squinted dully, who was making such a racket? As his vision blurred back into focus he saw Juvia in the middle of a fully-fledged panic attack. She was caught in the barbed wire of a fallen enemy's weapon. She was not stuck, but in her panic she was twisting herself more and more into the wire. 'That idiot!' thought Gray, 'she's going to rip an artery or something!'_

_Gray was distracted then by the huge axe that slammed down next to his head. He looked up and saw the nullifying mage. 'He could have killed me just now', Gray thought, staring at the axe. He looked up at the gleeful look on the man's face. The mage was just playing with him. _

_Gray staggered to his feet. He was dizzy but there was no pain, he must be in shock. The nullifier waited for Gray to stand before sending dozens of little energy balls at him. It was all Gray could do to dodge them. Eventually the man seemed to get bored, a large energy ball began to grow steadily in his hand and Gray knew that he would not be able to dodge this one. _

_He stood still prepared for death. The mage swung his arm to throw the ball. But just at that moment a whip wrapped around the nullifier's arm and the ball flew in the wrong direction. Gray gaped as Lucy leapt in front of him._

"_Gray I'll handle him get out of here."_

"_Lucy there is no way I'll let you-"_

"_Gray, you're injured and I have a weapon. Also you're the only one who'll be able to help Juvia."_

_Gray suddenly seemed to tune back in and realised that Juvia was still wrapped in the barbed wire screaming that he was dead._

_Lucy met his eyes steadily, "I'll be fine. Let me take care of it."_

This was the part Gray regretted most of all.

"_Okay," he said and staggered his way to a now bloody Juvia. _

_By the time Juvia was free of the wire the attackers were vanishing. Gray fell to knees the second they were gone, an insane, hysterical laughter bubbling from his mouth. They were alive, they were all alive! The enemies had not beaten them._

_Suddenly a terrible roar rent the dusk air, "LUCY! WHERE'S LUCY!?"_

_Gray's insane laughter suddenly died, like a fire being dosed. And a terrible all-consuming fear gripped him. He spun slowly to face the place where Lucy and the mage were fighting._

_There was nothing there, except for what looked like the remains of a body on the floor. Gray half sprinted, half crawled to the body. It was so destroyed that you couldn't even tell the gender. Except…. was that blonde hair?_

Natsu had denied that it was Lucy. For whatever reason, none of the dragon slayers had been able to properly identify the scent. Everyone wanted to believe Natsu, wanted to believe Lucy was alive. So they all had searched and all had accepted the reality except for a few of them. But Gray could not accept it. If she was dead then he had killed her, he was the one who had left her to fight the mage. It was all his fault and he could not bear it. So she had to be alive, because the alternative was just too painful. But although team Natsu would stubbornly deny her death, none of them could deny that six years was an awfully long time not to find any information at all.

Meanwhile at the very edge of Fiore…

"What do you mean you have no information!?" shouted a rather intimidating looking man.

His subordinate was sweating profusely, although his face showed no trace of fear. "Milord, I apologise but the hunters were misled, and one committed suicide, so I can only assume that he was captured."

"I am tired of being failed by such worthless mages! Recall the forces!"

"Milord, you do not want them to continue their pursuit of the children?"

"No. Tell me the status of the fuel?"

"Not in our possession yet Milord but located."

"Excellent, the children's blood is diluted. They are not worth as much as the celestial mage, so focus on her."

"She is almost cornered, but there is one problem."

"Oh?"

The man shifted uncomfortably, "you see we have detected a dragon slayer approaching, the sky dragon slayer from Fairy Tail."

"That troublesome guild. We cannot have anyone discover our operation here, so" the man licked his lips, "if she gets within 50 miles of this place, kill her".

Back at said guild, Natsu was dealing with another mistake. Happy had flown into the guild a few minutes ago, wailing that Natsu had left him behind. Which to his chagrin, he realised he had done, forgetting the exceed in his anger in Erza's news about the attack. Happy had become rather over-emotional after Lucy's disappearance and Natsu now had to attempt to quiet the exceed's loud sobs. He really seemed to be upsetting everyone today.

Being distracted by Happy Natsu almost made it another full hour in the guild before he reached his limit. He then leapt to his feet and declared loudly that he couldn't wait for Wendy a second longer.

"When she gets back tell her I'm heading south-west to look for Lucy."

He stomped towards the guild exit, but was stopped by a figure tentatively tugging his arm. "I wouldn't go there if I were you."

Natsu stared incredulously down at Scarlett, "and why not?"

"Because she's not there."

Natsu felt every muscle in his body tighten at her words, "and how do you know that kid?"

Scarlett glanced anxiously over her shoulder at her brother and then stared up into Natsu's strained face, "because she's our mother".

**Pleasse R&R :))**

**So um I will have to revise what I previously said about updates, the one week thing was only possible during the hols, now I'm back at school updates will take longer but I will do my best to get them out as quickly as possible.**

**Also I kinda feel bad about this chapter, it's fillerish and nothing much happens and I rushed it to get it out quicker, so I apologise if there are lots of mistakes. But I needed to explain stuff, future chaps should be longer and more interesting hopefully.**

**This chappy was inspired by 'What you know' by Two Door Cinema Club.**

**IchigoRukiaKurosakiBFTIRLHES , here is your explanation/summary:**

**Six years ago Fairy tail was attacked, there was a great battle and many of the guild members were seriously injured – that's how Levy lost an arm. Lucy fought the nullifying mage during the battle and vanished at the end. A body with blonde hair was found but no-one could properly identify it. So everyone searched for Lucy but eventually most gave up. **

**The kids are Lucy's. You won't find out who the father is yet. There was no war, it was just an intense battle, it only lasted one day. **


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